Hoppers are incomplete - Pitched

So the estimates weren't quite right, the team shape isn't quite right, or something just came up... and you are now left with a load of blocked tickets. Have you got a nice hopper of well defined work that you can quickly dip into that a) keeps the devs busy and b) contributes to the overall project direction? The alternative is scratching around to find work that will almost certainly not be defined well and may not even be necessary.

I use the term “sandfillers”, and have used a separate backlog of these smaller, generally isolated items. During the initial NPD process this backlog is useful for keeping the smaller items, the ones that are great to do at the end of a sprint. However, as a project goes through its life cycle these sandfillers can act as a great way of keeping other stakeholders involved. Once the product has been released the customer facing teams will make additional demands of the development team's time and need resource. Obviously, planning ahead for this would be wise, but lets face it you'll still be driven by feature releases and the need to broaden your MVP. The sandfillers can act as way of helping finding resource for the customer facing teams requests. Regularly prioritise this dedicated backlog with the customer facing teams. It works as a great way of ensuring they have some resource, whilst keeping them happy and involved in the project!

Circumstances outside control - Pitched

Circumstances outside of your control (or “Shit happens!”). Don't let this become the excuse why one of the other waste reasons occurred. It should become a red flag that alerts you to see if you can avoid the problem next time. Not knowing that John had his 3 week holiday of a lifetime booked in the middle of a key piece of development is not an excuse for missing a deadline, it should be the reason why the deadline was originally moved!

Take another example from my personal history... The government passes a law that affects your customers. Suddenly you need to drop what you are doing and focus on this new feature or functionality change. Whilst you may not have been certain the work would be needed until the law was passed, you could easily have prepared two plans, one for each circumstance! Not only would the business run more smoothly, but perhaps your customers would appreciate knowing they are in the safe hands of people who plan for this type of eventuality